Interplanetary scintillation-driven (IPS-driven) ENLIL model was jointly developed by University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and National Aeronaucics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA/GSFC). The model has been in operation by Korean Space Weather Cetner (KSWC) since 2014. IPS-driven ENLIL model has a variety of ambient solar wind parameters and the results of the model depend on the combination of these parameters. We have conducted researches to determine the best combination of parameters to improve the performance of the IPS-driven ENLIL model. The model results with input of 1,440 combinations of parameters are compared with the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) observation data. In this way, the top 10 parameter sets showing best performance were determined. Finally, the characteristics of the parameter sets were analyzed and application of the results to IPS-driven ENLIL model was discussed.

The sea-port in Northern Vietnam accounts for around one third of the total country’s cargo throughput and for many decades has been playing an important role in the logistics system of the country. 11 container terminals currently operate in Northern Vietnam, concentrating in Haiphong city and Quang Ninh province. Despite the increasing demand, the competition among these container terminals has become increasingly more critical. In recent years, massive investments from both government and operators have been made to improve the capability of the local sea-port’s logistics infrastructure. This critically needed comprehensive research evaluates the impact of the current logistics infrastructure condition on the competitiveness of terminals and quantitatively compares the competencies of these terminals. In order to meet such requirements, the paper first summarizes the indicators of the logistics infrastructures of the sea ports before developing and testing hypotheses to reveal the correlation between the given factors and the annual throughput of container terminals in the region. Factor analysis will then be applied to score the logistics infrastructure competency of each container terminal. A significant gap between logistics infrastructures among all container terminals was not observed and the competitiveness between container terminals is mostly driven by traditional activities including cargo handling and storage. According to the results, strategic thinking will be needed to contribute to related organizations for better decisions in investment, management, and operation.

Background : Ginseng farmers prefer first planted field because of replant failure. But the accumulation of nutrients is higher in the first planted field due to using large amounts of chemical fertilizers and manure. The higher phosphate concentration in preparation field decreased emergence ratio and occurred leaf chlorosis in ginseng. The purpose of this study was to develop a technology for reducing phosphate concentration in preparation field of ginseng. Methods and Results : This study was performed in farm's fild located Yeongju in 2015. Treatment of plots consisted of sudangrass, maize, deep plowing + sudangrass and microbes(Rhodobacter sphaeroides, Bacillus subtilis, streptomyces griseus) + sudangrass. sudangrass and maize were sown in early May to 5kg / 10a. Microbes diluted 500 times were treated to drench the soil before sowing crops(400L/10a). The main survey was yield of crop, soil chemical properties, reduction ratio of phosphate and changes in available phosphate. Reduction ratio of phosphate in the plot of maize and Rhodobacter sphaeroides were 27.9% and 24.3%, respectively, which were higher 2∼5% than the control plot. Fresh weight yield was the highest with 11.1ton / 10a in the plot of maize and ratio of dry matter was the highest with 27% in the plot of maize. Conclusion : The phosphate removal ability of maize was better than sudangrass in phosphate accumulation soil. Subsoil reversed using excavators used by some farmers could not mitigate of phosphate and salts concentration in preparation field. The soil that phosphate concentration is more than 1,000mg/kg is required a long-term management.

Background : Every year, Damping-off is repeated in the germination time of ginseng on April to May. This study was carried out to find out the cause of damping-off and the optimum eco-friendly product for suppression of damping-off caused by Rhizoctonia solani on Panax ginseng. Methods and Results : Bikona (Bioagent), Lime-Sulfur Mixture, Lime-Bordeux Mixture, NaOcl, and Fludioxonil were tested in farmer's field located in Youngju and Bonghwa, Gyeongbuk. Experimental plots (20m×0.9m) of 4-year-old ginseng fields were artificially infested with 2kg and 3kg in fresh weight of inoculum in Youngju and Bonghwa, respectively. Growth characteristics in all the plots of eco-friendly product were similar and had no difference significantly. Damping-off incidences were 0.8% at the polt of NaOcl in Bonghwa, which showed the lowest in all the plots. Ginseng yield in the plot of NaOcl and Fludioxonil were 1.75 kg and 1.71 kg per 1.62 ㎡, which increased 10∼12% compared to the control plot. Conclusion : Sodium hypochlorite as eco-friendly materials for control of damping-off caused by Rhizoctonia solani in ginseng represented a similar performance with Fludioxonil and seems to be utilized in the farm.

Background : The Ginseng has been one of the crops that represents Korea, and the main export items in the 1960s, Now it occupies the first exports of agricultural products. The Eco-friendly cultivation of Ginseng was difficult for various reasons. But the cultivation in Green House can be suppressed disease occurrence, when utilizing an environmentally friendly materials has the advantage that can dramatically increase the income by possible organic production. For other crops, it made up a lot of studies on water management, But the studies on water management of ginseng is somewhat lacking. Therefore, this study was conducted to establish appropriate soil- moisture-management-systems within the house of ginseng cultivation. Methods and Results : The type of house is a double steel structure. The first layer was PE film, the second layer was the blue shading net and 75% black shading net. The Soil texture was silt loam and the Soil Series was YEONGOK Series. Install the house on the adjacent paddy soil and upland soil, and planting on April 30, 2011 which was cultivated by the straw mulching. The irrigation start point was the 40, 30, 20kpa, and the end point was treated with 15, 10kpa. Soil moisture measurements were determined by tension meter(Jet Fill) depth 20cm in soil. Growth and Yield Survey was conducted in accordance with the Rural Development Administration (RDA) standard research. Statistical analysis of the results were analyzed using the Microsoft's Excel 2003. Conclusion : In a survey due to differences in soil traits and Irrigation point, from 2 years to 4years of root weight and yield of Ginseng were heavier in the upland, especially 30kpa irrigation point treatment was heaviest than the other treatments. From 5year to 6 Years of ginseng has showed heavier in paddy soil, the most treatment was 30kpa- 15kpa irrigation point. This trend was the same in upland soil. Soil moisture management in the case of silt loam, the humid-state-control was more advantageous than dry-state control in upland and paddy soil.

Vietnam’s sea-port industry has experienced a significant development in recent years. Especially in Northern Vietnam, both the demand and supply of handling services for containerized cargoes have increased at a considerable rates. Accompany with such movement, the competition among container terminals in the area becomes fiercer. In this paper, Hierarchical Cluster Analysis is employed to classify all 11 container terminals in Northern Vietnam by collecting data concerning terminal competitiveness. After the classification, each group will be discussed in order to reveal more details about their competitive characteristics. The paper consists of five sections. Section 1 is the general introduction. Section 2 provides a general literature review about competitiveness and factors to evaluate competitiveness. Section 3 explains variables and methodology applied to do the analysis. Section 4 presents the results with linkage to the current condition. Section 5 summarizes the analysis results. It is shown that container terminals in Northern Vietnam should not only pay attention to their service qualities but also have to find out an appropriate mechanism to avoid unhealthy competition. The paper is expected to contribute a background for further researches in container terminals’ competition in the region as well as hints for operators in planning and making decisions.

Essences, needs and features of formation of national innovative development model of Kazakhstan are proved on the basis of analysis of various research approaches to realization of the modernization that exist in the world economic theory. For studying the problems of innovative development of the country, there was a need for the formulation of a number of definitions, disclosure of their contents, changing the approaches to reform, as well as adjusting their targets. In the article the general scientific research methods used dialectic, abstraction, systemic and situational approach, empirical and theoretical and analytical methods, and logic modeling. The proposed approach to the implementation of innovative development based on the use of evolutionary and institutional approaches to the study of the problems of implementing an effective innovation policy. This approach is intended to contribute to the development of a forward strategy of modernization, innovative development and higher competitiveness of the national economy. The study proved the causes and features of the implementation of innovative development model in Kazakhstan.

Steel slag has been used as the alternative binder to replace Portland cement that furthermore used as in construction and/or for stabilization/solidification of heavy metals in mine soil. One of the treatments to modify the leaching behavior of the mine soil is by carbonation. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential of carbonation in various steel slags. Based on chemical and mineralogical characterization of four kinds of slag that were used in this study, it showed that all slags had high potential for reacting with CO2 that was in accordance with the high CaO and MgO content. CO2 sequestration by aqueous carbonation of several kinds of stainless steel slags with different liquid to solid ratio was investigated in this study. The effect of chemical properties and reaction time on the performance of the carbonation process was also investigated. Converter slag, blast furnace slag (BFS) and ladle furnace slag (LFS) were used. Carbonation experiment was conducted in a closed reactor under the conditions; 1bar, 400rpm and 25℃, with solid to liquid ratios of 0.4, 0.6 and 1.0. Carbonation kinetic test was relatively fast and completed within 5 hours. The CO2 consumption increased when the liquid to solid ratio increased because of the dilution effect. Our results showed that the higher CaO and MgO contents in the slag, the higher CO2 consumption was observed. Pohang converter slag and Dangjin LFS showed slightly different tendency. At L/S ratio 0.4, Pohang slag with higher CaO and MgO content had higher CO2 consumption than Dangjin LFS. As the water content increased, Dangjin LFS had higher CO2 consumption than Pohang converter slag that was caused by the texture of Dangjin LFS with smaller particle size than Pohang converter slag. However, both Pohang BFS and Dangjin BFS have poor capacity in CO2 sequestration.

Sea-ports in Northern Vietnam have experienced a rapid growth of container throughput in recent years. To accompany with such development, huge investment also has been performed to enhance not only local port capacity but also the regional logistics system. Container terminals in Northern Vietnam locate centrally along Cam river of Haiphong city, leaving 2 others in Quang Ninh province. Five out of totally 11 container terminals in the area are under the control of Vinalines - a national corporation in field of maritime industry. In this paper, those terminals are classified in terms of location and ownership. The volume of container throughput and facilities of all container terminals in Northern Vietnam from 2005 to 2014 are recorded in order to compare the performance of groups. A Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is then applied to evaluate the relative efficiency of such terminals. Before conclusion, number of suggestions will be contributed to related parties.

Cryopreservation allows for the advances of the reproductive technique and livestock industry. However, cryopreservation inevitably causes various types of stress, such as cold shock, osmotic stress, and ice crystal formation, thereby reducing fertility. Although cryoprotectant agent (CPA) is added to protect spermatozoa from freezing damage during cryopreservation, it has intrinsic toxicity that can affect components of the sperm membrane. Moreover, the addition of CPA induces osmotic stress and excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, resulting in disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential, alteration of membrane permeability, and damage of sperm surface proteins. To identify the effects of CPA to spermatozoa, we analyzed the sperm movement, capacitation status, and viability using computer-assisted sperm analysis and Hoechst 33258/chlortetracycline fluorescence staining. Moreover, we performed two-dimensional electrophoresis to find protein markers related CPA addition in cryo processes. CPA addition reduced sperm motility (%), viability (%), and non-capacitated spermatozoa, whereas acrosome-reacted spermatozoa increased significantly (p<0.05). Following addition of CPA, a total of ten proteins were altered their expression (eight increased, two decreased) (>3 fold, p<0.05). Among these, four differentially expressed proteins were related to several canonical pathways, such as the ephrinR-actin, ROS metabolism, actin cytoskeleton assembly, actin cytoskeleton regulation, and respiratory chain and oxidative phosphorylation pathway (p<0.05). The present study suggests that CPA significantly alters the functions and proteome content of spermatozoa. Additionally, we anticipated that the differentially expressed proteins might consider as biomarker of CPA-induced stress.

Prognosis and diagnosis of male fertility is a most important for animal breeding system and human reproduction. Conventional semen analysis generally provides information on the quantitative parameters of spermatozoa, but yields no information concerning its functional competence. Thus, new methods for diagnosis and prognosis of male fertility will need to be developed to ensure more accurate assessments. Proteomics have used to find candidate biomarkers for male fertility, but the relationship between the proteome and fertility was not fully understood. Therefore, we performed a comprehensive proteomic approach to investigate small and large litter size boar spermatozoa and identify proteins related to negative male fertility. In present study, 20 proteins showed differential expression levels in small and large litter size groups. Nineteen of these proteins were abundantly expressed in the small litter group. Interestingly, only one protein was highly expressed in the large litter size spermatozoa. We then identified signaling pathways associated with the differentially expressed protein markers. Glutathione S-transferase Mu3 and glutathione peroxidase 4 were related to the glutathione metabolic pathway and arginine vasopressin receptor 2 was linked to vasopressin R2/STAT. Taken together, our results suggest that identified negative fertility-related biomarkers may be used as negative biomarkers for the detection of inferior male fertility such as sub-fertility or infertility.

Although the toxicological impacts of the xenoestrogen bisphenol-A (BPA) have been studied extensively, but its mechanism of action is poorly understood. Eventually, no standard method exists for evaluating the possible health hazard of BPA. Considering mice spermatozoa as a potential in vitro model, here we demonstrated the effects of BPA exposure (0.0001, 0.01, 1, and 100 μM for 6 h) on spermatozoa and the related mechanisms of action. Our results demonstrated that high concentrations of BPA negatively affect sperm motility, viability, intracellular ATP, and mitochondrial functions by activating the mitogen-activated protein kinase, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, and protein kinase-A pathways. The same doses were also employed to identify the differential expressed proteins of exposure and screen their functional affiliation to diseases using sperm proteomics and informatics, respectively. Our results demonstrated that a high concentration of BPA (100 μM) induced differential expression (> 2-fold) of 24 proteins in spermatozoa (16 down- and 9 up-regulated), that are putatively involved in the pathogenesis of several diseases. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate the mechanisms of BPA action in spermatozoa and to identify the possible biomarkers of exposure. Moreover, we anticipated that current strategy might apply for the hazard assessment of other toxicological agents.

As an endocrine disruptor, bisphenol-A (BPA) causes several functional and behavioral abnormalities related to reproduction. The current study was design to evaluate the effect of perinatal exposure of female mice to BPA on sperm function of adult F(1) offspring. Pregnant female mice F(0) were gavaged with three different concentration of BPA, such as 50 μg/kg/day (tolerable daily intake value by the European Food Safety Authority), 5 mg/kg/day (no-observed-adverse-effect level; NOAEL), and 50 mg/kg/day (lowest-observed-adverse-effect level; LOAEL) and corn oil (7 mg/kg/day; vehicle control). The functional parameters of F(1) spermatozoa were studied both before and after capacitation, whereas the fertility assessment was evaluated by in vitro and in vivo assay using unexposed females. Our results showed that spermatozoa hyperactivated motility, capacitation, intracellular ATP, Ca2+, and ROS levels after capacitation were significantly affected using NOAEL and LOAEL concentration of BPA. However, the sperm motility was only affected by LOAEL dose after capacitation. All of the tested parameters were potentially unaffected by BPA before capacitation, except intracellular ATP that decreased by all concentrations. Although both NOAEL and LOAEL concentration were effectively reduced the rate of fertilization and embryonic development in vitro, however the average litter size was only affected by LOAEL dose. Our finding suggested that perinatal exposure of 50 μg/kg/day did not produce significant effects; however both NOAEL and LOAEL affects overall sperm function after capacitation, leading to impairments in the fertility of F(1) male offspring.

Panax ginseng C.A Meyer is commonly used in Asian traditional medicine to treat a variety of diseases. Ginsenosides are glycosylated triterpenes, referred to saponins, have been especially noted as active compounds contributing to the various efficacy of ginseng. In this study, we are trying to select high saponin content of ginseng lines from the gamma irradiated adventitious roots. Recently, we have generated several mutant ginseng lines improving ginseniside content by gamma radiation. The mutant lines were selected by phenotypes and ginsenoside content (HPLC analysis) of the irradiated adventitious root lines. However, the ginsenoside content of the mutant lines was not sufficient for commercial use and the selection method was not suitable for large scale of mutant line selection. In this study, we are testing Fourier transfer infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) as a new selection method of mutant lines in Panax ginseng. About 5,000 pieces of Panax ginseng adventitious roots were exposed to gamma radiation (60Co). Irradiation dosages were 0, 25, 50 and 70Gy. Survival rate of the irradiated samples was evaluated by counting the number of survival main roots after 5 weeks culture in the solid MS medium with NAA, IAA and 5% sucrose. In present, we are collecting the survived adventitious root lines (about 900 lines) from the gamma irradiated ginseng roots for FT-IR and HPLC analysis. After analysis of FT-IR and HPLC, we will assess the suitability of the FT-IR as a screening method for the preparation of mutant lines in ginseng.

Map-based cloning is a basic method for identifying the mutated gene in plants. We selected the gametophytic mutant, named as AP-26-09, in activation-tagging pool. Mutant plant showed various kinds of pollen phenotype, such as the different number of nucleus or abnormal shapes. For the map-based gene cloning, we conducted phenotypic analysis of F2 mapping population through the screening of DAPI-stained pollen using fluorescence microscopy. Genomic DNA of F2 plants is prepared from leaves of approximately 1000 plants. In order to define chromosomal region where mutation is located, we designed SSLP markers and performed PCR amplification. In this study, we characterized gametophytic mutant and determined the chromosomal location using map-based approach.

We recently reported rice promoters that are active in late stages of pollen development. However, rice promoters that allow manipulation of gene expression at earlier stages of pollen development are still very limited to date. In this study, we have chosen 10 putative microspore promoters, OsMSP1 through OsMSP10, based on publicly available transcriptomic datasets in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Sequence analysis of these promoter regions revealed some cis regulatory elements involved in pollen-specific expression. We also examined promoter activities using the promoter-GUS reporter constructs in both transgenic rice and Arabidopsis. In rice, all of the 10 promoters directed GUS signals from the microspore stage throughout the all stages of pollen development. In addition, while GUS signals from 4 promoters, OsMSP2, OsMSP7, OsMSP9 and OsMSP10, seem to be expressed preferentially during pollen development, those from other six promoters were observed in vegetative tissues such as leaves, stems, and roots of seedlings. Similarly, in Arabidopsis, all of the 10 promoters directed GUS signals during pollen development. In detail, 8 promoters, OsMSP1 ~ OsMSP8 directed GUS signals from the microspore stage, whereas 2 promoters, OsMSP9 and OsMSP10, exhibited GUS signals from tricellular stage. Furthermore, seven promoters, except for OsMSP1, OsMSP2 and OsMSP10, showed GUS signals in shoot apical region or root tissues of seedlings. Furthermore, we verified microspore activity of four promoters, OsMSP1, OsMSP2, OsMSP3 and OsMSP6, by complementation analysis of the sidecar pollen (scp) mutant which displays microspore-specific defects. Currently, further analyses are underway for GUS expression of T2 generation in transgenic rice and scp complementation with remaining promoters.

To identify genes that play critical roles during male gametogenesis in Arabidopsis, we have isolated several pollen morphological mutants from a mutagenized seed pool generated with a T-DNA activation vector. In this study, we have focused on a mutant plant producing ~50% abnormal pollen grains including high levels of collapsed pollen at maturity. The pollen developmental analysis showed that the mutant pollen phenotype was first observed at tricellular stage. Interestingly, the mutation was only maintained as a heterozygote due to the severely reduced genetic transmission through both sexes. TAIL PCR analysis led to the identification of the responsible gene which encodes a conserved oligomeric golgi complex component-related protein (COGCC). RT-PCR analysis showed predominant expression of the gene in reproductive organs including developing spores. The gene identity was confirmed by the result that mutant plants harboring a T-DNA containing corresponding wild type gene produced less level of mutant pollen grains. Furthermore, confocal laser scanning microscopy using mature pollen expressing COGCC-RFP driven under the native promoter showed small punctate signals, which are likely to be from the Golgi complex. Further experiments for co-localization of the COGCC-RFP with the Golgi markers are underway.

In the course of map-based cloning, mutant genes are identified through linkage to specific region on genetic map. Here, we demonstrated gametophytic mutant line, named as AP-28-23, in which mutant gene was mapped on chromosome 2. Based on phenotypic analysis of mature pollen, mutant phenotype of AP-28-23 was classified into three classes, wild-type showing 2-4%, moderate 35-53% and severe type 97-100% on aberrant pollen frequencies, respectively. The severe type is completely sterilized with 100% unfertilized ovules. We also revealed that the transmission was reduced through male gametophyte in the AP-28-23 line. The transmission efficiency (TE) through the male gametophyte is only 0.67%, whereas in the female gametophyte is 89.87%.

Cysteine protease (CP) is one of the well-studied proteolytic enzymes in plants. This class of protease has been implicated in various physiological aspects of developmental stages in plants including seed germination, senescence, and disease immunity. A handful of studies assigned plants cysteine protease in different molecular battlefield under a few selected pathosystems, and initially extricated complex molecular mechanism of resistance. However, its potential use as an agent of resistance to diseases in rice has never been explored. This study demonstrates the function of CP specifically in rice - Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) pathosystem. The CP -encoding full-length cDNA was cloned from Brassica rapa and transformed into japonica rice cv. ‘Gopumbyeo’. The gene was overexpressed under the control of CaMV35S promoter in pFLC vector. Blast analysis of the conserved domain of the gene confirmed its affinity to Peptidase_CIA family. RT-PCR analysis showed that the gene was constitutively expressed in all tissues tested. Regulation of rice resistance through cysteine protease activity is evident in overexpression lines which exhibited an enhanced resistance to four Korean Xoo isolates. Further analyses will be carried out to uncover the specific role of CP in rice-Xoo interaction.

This study was conducted to affirm the potential of seed priming techniques for optimizing mechanized growing technologies to maintain production of sustainable small cereal crops. Seed priming conditions were preliminary tested in laboratory. Sorghum seeds were hydroprimed and osmoprimed comprising a total of 33 treatments of different priming combination along with control. Seed primed in aerated solution of distilled water, PEG8000 (-0.15 MPa and –0.3 MPa), KCl(1% and 2%), KH2PO4 (0.5% and 1.0%), KNO3 (1.0% and 3.0%), CaCl2 (1.0% and 3.0%) solutions for 6, 12, 24 hours at 15℃. Maximum seed germination percentage, germination rate and reduced mean germination times (MGT) were observed when the seeds primed by CaCl2 1.0% for 24 h, whereas the lowest germination percentage observed in seeds which treated with KNO3 3% solution. Priming improved the MGT, germination index, and germination rate of all primed seeds statistically comparing to control. The MGT reduced by increase of treatment time. Further studies for field performance of primed seeds are needed.